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Talk:Eternal Darkness
Post comments and reviews on the story here. Toa Roden's Official Review And so, the finale of the Xaterex Multiverse Storyline is come: Eternal Darkness. And it is an incredible piece of writing, well worthy of a review such as I will attempt to write, but first I'd like to say a few quick words about the storyline itself. I, , still marvel that ever managed to complete such a massive undertaking, and with such speed and skill. Even in the early days of The Eternal Game and Into the Darkness, the storyline was very popular among Custom BIONICLE Wiki's citizens. Indeed, The Eternal Game remains one of the most well-known and well-written fight-to-the-death stories on the site, despite it representing only the mere beginnings of Varkanax's writing skill. And now, several novella and two novels later (I may be wrong about the exact numbers, as I am far too lazy to find out for certain what they are), Varkanax's storyline has quite possibly attained the all-time CBW record for popularity, quality, and overall epicness. (And I don't mean 'epic' in the modern sense, i.e. 'dude, that's awesome', I mean it in the older and more meaningful sense, like you might apply to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings) It's not without flaws, of course. The downside of the storyline's sheer complexity and vastness is a great need for a few in-depth maps, timelines, and appendixes, none of which exist to any extent. Another overall downside is the fact that the writing sometimes tends toward a sort of dry monotony, usually during those times when The Powers That Be are discussing war strategy, but I've noticed it in some of the more lengthy battle scenes and descriptive passages as well. There also tends to be a lack of adequate characterization in many of the supporting characters, but again, this drawback is mainly due to the sheer vastness and complexity of the storyline. Now, I could go on for a while yet about the storyline as a whole, but this review is supposed to be about Eternal Darkness, and nothing else... I'll start with the plot, which is, in essence, simply a continuation of plot elements introduced as far back as the storyline's already-mentioned beginning. But it's also a conclusion to them, and much of the story involves the lengthy final battle of the Resistance vs. Ix... and, of course, a powerful third faction consisting entirely of hive-minded zombies. Completely unexpected, but sheer genius, and the Infected add just the right touch of chaos and desperation to the mixture. But that's not even the central conflict. Where to begin? Chapter after chapter is made up of Shardak & Co.'s valiant struggles to even make it within eyeshot of Lord Vahrikaan, and after that... Well, it's not my job to praise the work of Varkanax39. The plot is excellent, and although it's long and twisted and complicated, it's certainly not confusing (at least, not much). The only weakness I can sense is that it seems as though the author wrote most of the story as tense and action-packed as possible, thus when the final duel between Shardak and Vahrikaan came around, he was unable to make it quite as climatic as it should be. But that might be just me. Again, excellent plot. The bittersweet ending/epologue/denouement/what-ever-you-call-it is also nicely done; loose ends are tied up quite efficiently, and the eventual outcomes of the various characters are satisfactory and fitting. I can only pick out two possible flaws: one, it seems to be slightly rushed; and two, Blast and Fairon do not get nearly enough tears shed on their behalf. I'm not sure how easily this can be remedied, but I'd definitely give it a try. The quality of the writing itself, apart from a few more grammar and spelling errors than would be nice, is also excellent. The tone is dark and intense; classic Varkanax39. A bit of dry monotony at times, yes, a slight lack of personality in the supporting characters, yes... but that is perhaps to be expected in a story of this size. Pace and flow is superb, and the bit of dark foreshadowing at the very beginning is a marvelous touch; adds just the right touch of doubt as to the eventual triumph of good. Characterization. I've already pointed out the slight lack of it in the supporting characters, but in the main protagonists, it is more than satisfactory. Shardak has conquered his lack of personality at last, Valkryia is as epic as ever, etc. There are a few problems, of course, but all I can do is sense their existence; it is currently beyond my capabilities to pin down exactly what they are and how to fix them. I apologize. :P I might mention, also, that I think the characters in general ought to show a bit more emotion at the death of their comrades. Sure, maybe they're battle-hardened and all that, but still... Jareroden, Galika, Blast, Fairon... they all bite the dust, along with thousands more, but I certainly don't see an overabundance of sorrowful words or teary-eyed females. What's going on here? Moving on... I'm not really saying stuff in any particular order, by the way, just writing as it comes to me. Battle scenes are superb, although some of the longer ones tend to get a bit monotonous. Dialogue is good, but somewhat lacking in 'colorfulness'. Descriptive passages are perfectly adequate, but tend to be a bit dry (as I've said before). I could drone on for awhile longer, but it is unnecessary. One can only say so much in a story review, and as I'm rather pressed for time at the moment... well, my services are free, so I can decide how high in quality they are. ;-) Anyways, Eternal Darkness is a CBW masterpiece; a fitting finale to the Xaterex Multiverse Storyline, and a highly entertaining novel in its own right. Despite some minor flaws, it has an aura of epicness that few stories ever achieve, and... well, yes, it's a CBW masterpiece of epicness. 'Nough said. Final Grade: A''' P.S. Again, congratulations on the completion of your main storyline. It's no small feat to do what you've done, and so well and so quickly. You and your writing is an inspiration to me, and to the entire CBW community as well. Nicely done, Varkanax, nicely done. [[User:Toa Roden|'''Toa]] [[User talk:Toa Roden|'Roden']] 14:49, September 3, 2012 (UTC) TL DR Akuumo 10:12, May 1, 2014 (UTC)